Obasanjo Returns: Democracy with a Muzzle
Returning as a civilian in 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo’s second presidency used state media to project a reformist image. His government’s failures—fuel scarcity, privatization scandals, and human rights abuses—were brushed aside with glossy PR. The Third Term agenda was coated in euphemisms like “national interest” and “continuity.”
Yet Nigerians saw through it. The plan failed, and many of its promoters faded from public life. Propaganda again met its natural limit: truth.
Jonathan and the Social Media Mirage
President Goodluck Jonathan (2010–2015) presided over an era of digital spin. His aides, most notably Reno Omokri, took the war of narratives online. Using social media, Omokri and others crafted an alternate reality—one where Boko Haram wasn’t a crisis, and corruption was exaggerated by critics.
Hashtags like #GEJisWorking and photoshopped achievements flooded timelines while Chibok girls remained missing and fuel queues snaked through cities. In 2015, Nigerians voted against that illusion. Jonathan’s defenders, once loud, became relics—their credibility drowned by fact.
Today, Reno Omokri still clings to that playbook, tweeting revisionist tales, attacking journalists, and gaslighting reality. But history is already pushing him toward irrelevance, just as it did to his predecessors.
Buhari: The Echo of Broken Promises:
President Muhammadu Buhari (2015–2023) rose on the wings of the Change mantra—a propaganda masterpiece. Promises of security, anti-corruption, and economic reform were backed by coordinated media blitzes and PR-driven spokespersons.
But reality refused to cooperate. Insecurity worsened. The economy shrank. Youth unemployment soared. Minister Lai Mohammed’s denials, and the administration’s tone-deaf narratives, became punchlines.
When Buhari exited office, his “change” narrative was no longer inspirational—it was infamous. His propagandists, too, lost public trust and are now struggling to find relevance in a more skeptical society.
Today: A New Crop, Same Old Playbook:
Today’s political spin doctors—many from previous regimes—continue the tradition. Reno Omokri remains a standout example, building a personal brand on defending the indefensible. But like the others before him, his noise lacks substance.
The Nigerian public, armed with technology and memory, is no longer easy to deceive. Propaganda has a shorter shelf life now. Its peddlers are exposed faster—and discarded quicker.
Conclusion: Propaganda Cannot Govern:
Across administrations—civilian and military—Nigerian leaders have leaned on propaganda to hide their shortcomings. And every time, the lie collapsed, and the people moved on. The megaphones of deception—no matter how loud—are always silenced by history.
Propaganda can rally a crowd, trend on social media, and win an election. But it cannot build roads, end insecurity, reduce inflation, or provide electricity. It cannot fix what’s broken. It can only delay the truth—and eventually, the truth always arrives.
Today’s propagandists, like those of yesterday, may be trending now. But tomorrow will forget them.
Because propaganda deceives—but it cannot govern.
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